Skip to main content

Former US Route 101 on Grant Street in Chualar

Chualar is small community located in Salinas Valley of Monterey County, California.  Modern US Route 101 is aligned through Chualar via a freeway bypass in what was once a Southern Pacific Railroad switching yard.  The original alignment of US Route 101 in Chualar was aligned directly through the community on Grant Street.  Above the cover photo of this blog features a view on the Chualar Freeway of US Route 101 shortly after it was completed during 1958.  Below Chualar can be seen along US Route 101 on the 1935 Division of Highways Map of Monterey County.  


Part 1; the history of US Route 101 in Chualar

Chualar was settled in 1871 in Salinas Valley along what was to become the coastal line of the Southern Pacific Railroad.  Post Office Service briefly disbanded in Chualar during 1873 but would resume in 1874.  During the 1880s when the Southern Pacific Railroad began to expand south towards Cuesta Pass the community of Chualar began to grow.  Unlike many of the nearby communities in Salinas Valley the community of Chualar would never incorporate as a city.  Chualar can be seen plotted along the Southern Pacific Railroad on the 1882 Bancroft's Map of California and Nevada.  Unlike the Spanish El Camino Real the Southern Pacific Railroad corridor in Salinas Valley largely followed the best grade through the valley center.  


Salinas Valley was ultimately part of the American El Camino Real which began being signed as an Auto Trail starting in 1906.  The era of State Highway Maintenance through Salinas Valley would ultimately begin with the 1909 First State Highway Bond Act which was approved by voters in 1910.  One of the highways approved through the 1909 First State Highway Bond Act was a 481.8-mile highway originating at the City Limits of San Francisco which terminated in San Diego.  This highway would ultimately come to be known in time as Legislative Route Number 2 ("LRN 2").  Within Salinas Valley much of LRN 2 would follow the existing corridor along the frontage roads of the Southern Pacific Railroad which included the community of Chualar.  

The July 1914 California Highway Bulletin notes surveys to construct LRN 2 through Chualar were recently completed.  


Chualar can be seen on the 1917 California State Automobile Association Map along LRN 2.  LRN 2 can be seen taking a jog into Chualar via what was likely part of Chualar River Road onto Grant Street to avoid the Southern Pacific Railroad switching yard and reservation.  


The 1920 Rand McNally Highway Map of California shows El Camino Real and the Pacific Highway following LRN 2 through Chualar.  



The 1924 Rand McNally Map of California shows the California Banff Bee-Line Highway co-signed with the Pacific Highway through Chualar. 



The initial draft of the US Route System was approved by the Secretary of Agriculture during November of 1925.  The US Route System within California was approved by California Highway Commission with no changes recommended by January 1926.  The initial alignment of US Route 101 ("US 101") was planned to follow LRN 2 from San Francisco to San Diego via Salinas Valley.  US 101 is shown on a map published in the 1926 California Highways & Public Works following LRN 2 south from San Francisco towards San Diego.
 


During November of 1926 the US Route System was approved by the ASSHO.  US Route 101 can be seen aligned through Chualar on the 1926 Rand McNally Junior Map of California.  


The January/February 1929 California Highways & Public Works notes US Route 101/LRN 2 was between Salinas-Chualar was slated to be reconstructed during the 1929-31 Fiscal year.  The volume notes the reconstruction of Salinas-Chualar corridor of US Route 101/LRN 2 included a railroad overhead.  



The July/August 1929 California Highways & Public Works details the reconstruction of the Salinas-Chualar corridor US Route 101/LRN 2.  The Salinas-Chualar corridor is project is stated to be planned to widen US Route 101/LRN 2 to a 36-foot roadbed and would eliminate a railroad crossing at Spence siding via an underpass structure.  



The October 1929 California Highways & Public Works noted the reconstruction of the Salinas-Chualar corridor of US Route 101/LRN 2 was underway. 


The February 1930 California Highways & Public Works notes the reconstruction of the Salinas-Chualar corridor of US Route 101/LRN 2 had recently been completed.  



The March 1933 California Highways & Public Works announced reconstruction of US Route 101/LRN 2 from Chualar to Camphora was underway.  The existing highway is stated to be too narrow and breaking apart too quickly.  

The 1935 Division of Highways Map of Monterey County displays US Route 101/LRN 2 aligned through Chualar via Grant Street. 

The May/June 1951 California Highways & Public Works notes US Route 101/LRN 2 between Spence Underpass-Chualar was to be graded and paved with a Portland Cement surface.  


The January/February 1952 California Highways & Public Works details the expansion of US Route 101/LRN 2 from Spence Underpass to Chualar to a four-lane expressway.  The Spence Underpass-Chualar Expressway segment of US Route 101/LRN 2 is cited as opening on November 30th, 1951.  The new northbound lanes of US Route 101/LRN 2 between Spence Underpass-Chualar were stated to be pressed into service early to provide relief to traffic while the southbound lanes were being modernized.  The article notes the corridor of LRN 2 through Chualar had been first constructed to State standards during 1916.  




The November/December 1953 California Highways & Public Works announced a contract to grade and pave US Route 101/LRN 2 from Chualar south to Gonzales.  


The July/August 1954 California Highways & Public Works announced US Route 101/LRN 2 had been expanded to expressway standards from Chualar south to Gonzales.  


The November/December 1956 California Highways & Public Works announced a freeway alignment of US Route 101/LRN 2 through Chualar was to be constructed during the 1957-58 Fiscal Year.  


The May/June 1957 California Highways & Public Works announced construction of the US Route 101/LRN 2 freeway in Chualar was underway.  


The July/August 1958 California Highways & Public Works announced the completion of the US Route 101/LRN 2 freeway through Chualar.  The Chualar Freeway corridor is stated to have broken ground during April 1957 and took approximately a year to complete.  The former corridor of US Route 101 on Grant Street is stated to have been converted to a frontage road of the new Chualar Freeway.  










Since the completion of the freeway grade during 1958 there has been no major alterations to US Route 101 in Chualar.  The Legislative Route Numbers were dropped as part of the 1964 State Highway Renumbering which left US Route 101 as the legislative designation through Chualar. 



Part 2; a drive on former US Route 101 in Chualar

From modern US Route 101 northbound traffic can access the original alignment of the highway via Exit 317 onto Grant Street. 





The former alignment of US Route 101 on Grant Street passes through Chualar for approximately a mile before looping back into the northbound lanes of the current freeway.  Notably Main Street can be accessed from Grant Street via a freeway overpass.  The Main Street overpass accesses a rail crossing which was the site of a deadly bus accident which occurred on September 17th, 1963.  Said bus accident killed 32 migrant farm workers and is cited to be the deadliest automobile accident in United States history by the National Safety Council. 








Comments

Popular posts from this blog

US Route 62 and US Route 180 in the Guadalupe Mountains

US Route 62/US Route 180 between El Paso, Texas and Carlsbad, New Mexico passes through the Guadalupe Mountains.  The Guadalupe Mountains comprise the highest peaks of Texas which are largely protected as part Guadalupe Mountains National Park.  The automotive highway through the Guadalupe Mountains was constructed in the late 1920s as part of Texas State Road 54.  US Route 62 was extended from Carlsbad through the Guadalupe Mountains to El Paso during 1932.  US Route 62 was joined in the Guadalupe Mountains by US Route 180 in 1943.  The Guadalupe Mountains comprise a portion of the 130 mile "No Services" zone on US Route 62/US Route 180 between El Paso-Carlsbad. Part 1; the history of US Route 62 and US Route 180 in the Guadalupe Mountains The Guadalupe Mountains lie within the states of Texas and New Mexico.  The Guadalupe Mountains essentially is a southern extension of the larger Rocky Mountains.  The Guadalupe Mountains is the highest range in Texas with the peak elevati

Paper Highways; unbuilt California State Route 100 in Santa Cruz

This edition of Paper Highways examines the unbuilt California State Route 100 in Santa Cruz. The History of Unbuilt California State Route 100 The route that became CA 100 was added to the State Inventory in 1959 as part of the Freeway & Expressway System as Legislative Route 287 .  According to CAhighways.org the initial definition of LRN 287 had it begin at LRN 5 (CA 17) and was defined over the below alignment to LRN 56 (CA 1) through downtown Santa Cruz. -  Ocean Street -  2nd Street -  Chestnut Street For context the above alignment would required tearing down a large part of the densely populated Santa Cruz.  A modern Google imagine immediately reveals how crazy an alignment following Ocean Street, 2nd Street, and Chestnut Street would have been. LRN 287 first appears on the 1960 Division of Highways State Map . In 1961 the definition of LRN 287 was generalized to; from LRN 5 via the beach area in Santa Cruz to LRN 56 west of the San Lorenzo River. 

New Mexico State Road 7 (Carlsbad Caverns Highway)

New Mexico State Road 7 is approximately a seven-mile highway in the Guadalupe Mountains of Eddy County. New Mexico State Road 7 connects US Route 62/US Route 180 at Whites City to the visitor center of Carlsbad Caverns National Park via Walnut Canyon. The so-called Carlsbad Caverns Highway to the National Park visitor center complex was constructed following the designation of the namesake National Monument in 1923. The current iteration of New Mexico State Road 7 was designated by the New Mexico State Highway Commission during June 1929. A proposal once was once floated to connect New Mexico State Road 7 to a cavern drive which would have been blasted into Big Room. Part 1; the history of New Mexico State Road 7 What are now Carlsbad Caverns was explored in the Guadalupe Mountains of Eddy County by local Jim White during 1898.  White explored the caverns via a homemade ladder and named several of the more notable rooms.  The name "Carlsbad Caverns" was derived from the